ACCOMMODATION provider Bedsearcher has launched an international £1m giveaway.

The Darlington-based firm has invested in a high-profile marketing campaign in an attempt to attract new sales and increase brand awareness.

The firm, which entered the global hotel booking market late last year, is giving away £1m worth of £5 vouchers to customers.

"Things are happening at a great speed at Bedsearcher, quite literally day by day we are closing the gap between ourselves and our long-established rivals such as Last Minute and Late Rooms," said founder, Jim Mann.

"There are some major industry deals in the pipeline, in this area alone we continue to exceed our own expectations."

Mr Mann, who set up the company with his partner Gill Chapple in 2002, wants to grow Bedsearcher into a £40m business.

It connects people with more than 40,000 hotels, bed and breakfasts and guesthouses across worldwide destinations.